


Dad and Stepdad

by shutterbug



Category: Succession (TV 2018)
Genre: Dogs, Friendship, Gen, Male Friendship, Pets, Puppies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22038481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutterbug/pseuds/shutterbug
Summary: Tom and Greg. Mondale. Puppies. Shiv continues to be the worst.
Relationships: Siobhan "Shiv" Roy/Tom Wambsgans
Comments: 9
Kudos: 28





	Dad and Stepdad

**Author's Note:**

> For @treasuredthings, who asked for “Coming home, Tom Wambsgans and Mondale.” 
> 
> This isn’t my best work, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. :)

When Shiv came home, Tom tried to look contrite. But it was hard to look contrite when you sat on the floor, cross-legged in the middle of the carpet. It was harder to look contrite surrounded by cuteness-come-to-life. 

As Shiv raised her eyes from her phone, he prepared himself for her reaction. Mondale lay at his hip, his snout perched on his knee. Two little black puppies, all too-large paws and floppy ears, circled him as they chased each other. 

Shiv slowed to a halt, her heels a soft  _ click-click _ on the hard wood. She let her phone-hand fall to her side as her eyes and mouth went wide. She shook her head, as if trying to shake off some sort of alternate reality. “When I left the house this morning,” she said, a hint of sour accusation in her calm voice. “You had  _ one  _ dog.” 

“ _ We  _ had one dog,” Tom corrected. He had never been able to convince Shiv to treat Mondale like her own, but he still liked to think of the three of them as a family. 

“But now it looks like you have  _ three  _ dogs.” 

“Well, a dog and two puppies.” He smiled and laughed; he hoped Shiv would join him, that his laugh—however forced—would be contagious.

But Shiv stared at him as if he had sprouted another head. “Who the fuck cares? They’re  _ dogs _ , Tom. And there are  _ three  _ of them. What the fuck are  _ three dogs  _ doing in my house?” 

Tom swallowed, determined to brush past her choice of words, and said, “Mondale had puppies.”

Her voice dropped an octave, straight into you-better-be-fucking-careful territory. “Mondale’s a boy.”

“Yeah, but he, uh...well, I guess he had a, uh, secret liaison with one of the neighbor’s dogs and she had puppies, and the neighbor—”

Shiv dropped her attention to her phone, but asked, “Since when do we have neighbors?”

“Since always. We’re on the top floor, Shiv. We don’t occupy the whole building.” 

“Well, why the fuck do we have their puppies?”

Tom scooped up one of the pups and set it in his lap. “Well, they’re half-our puppies.” 

Shiv lifted her head, only long enough to glare at him. 

“They didn’t have the room for them,” Tom explained. “And we have two whole rooms we aren’t even using, so—”

“So what?”

“So I said we could take a couple.” 

Shiv smiled, but it lacked warmth. “No, no, no,” she said. “You need to get rid of them.” 

“What? No.” He held the pup against his chest, even as it squirmed. “You can’t just get  _ rid  _ of dogs.” 

“Sure you can,” she replied, easy and distracted. “Just...you know...” 

He was relieved that she didn’t finish her sentence. “Look, Shiv, I’ve already taken them in. They’ve imprinted on me, like little ducklings. I can’t just—”

“Tom.” Her voice hardened. She looked at him with as much sympathy as a gorgon, her gaze sharp and direct. “I’m not living with three fucking dogs.” 

He breathed a soft exhale, but settled on an idea that would—for once—allow him to have his own way. So, without another word, he got up, wrangled all his pups—Mondale included—and left the apartment. 

When Greg opened his apartment door, Tom stepped inside. He would have barged in, but he didn’t have to; Greg stood there, his hand still on the doorknob, his jaw practically as low as his belt buckle. 

So Tom breezed in, two puppies in his arms, followed by Mondale, who instantly made himself comfortable on Greg’s sofa. “Jesus, Greg, they’re puppies, not aliens. Pick your jaw up off the floor, okay?” 

“Uh, yeah, okay,” Greg mumbled, closing the door. “So, uh, I don’t mean to be a dick, but my apartment has a no-pets policy and—”

“Yeah, I don’t care.” Tom said, letting the puppies loose. He watched them gallop around the room, a little smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “And besides, they’re not your pets.” 

“I think the landlord cares more about possession than, uh, actual ownership, but—”

“Greg, shut up. Listen to me. Mondale’s coming back home with me, but these two”—he pointed at the puppies, who were trying to nibble at each other’s ears—“stay with you. I’ll pay for everything. Food. Toys. Beds. Hell, I’ll pay your water bill. I don’t give a fuck. But I’m keeping them. You’re just...their step-dad. Got it?” 

Greg nodded. “You’re the dad. I’m the step-dad.” 

“Exactly.” 

Greg stared at the puppies. For a second, Tom was concerned he was about to ask about Shiv. But instead, to his relief, Greg knelt down and ruffled one of the puppy's ears. “Do they have names?” 

Tom shook his head. He’d hoped to brainstorm names with Shiv, but—well, that had never happened. All his bluster and desire to bully Greg seemed to evaporate as he sunk to his knees and joined Greg on the floor. He reached for the puppy that bore a white patch at the end of its short snout and stroked its head, unable to resist a quick touch to its white fur. “They’re both girls, so…this one will be Millie and that one”—he nodded toward the pup basking in Greg’s attention—“will be Mollie.” 

Tom visited almost every day, often with Mondale in tow. He paid off the landlord. He brought take-out after work. He teased Greg less and less. 

He teased him less because, after a few months, Tom realized that ending the day at Greg’s apartment, smothered by unrestrained canine affection, made him happier than the cold—at worst—or lukewarm—at best—reception he received from Shiv. 

When he walked into Greg’s apartment, he felt as if he were coming home. 


End file.
